Built for King Edward VII (when Prince of Wales) in 1893, Britannia was the most celebrated of all the great racing cutters. Extremely successful from the outset, she won 33 firsts out of 39 starts in her maiden season although the Prince sold her in 1897 when his interest waned due, in part, to the Kaiser's obsessive jealousy of her. Although the Prince subsequently bought her back for cruising, it was during George V's tenure of ownership that she really came into her own. In 1921, in order to start big class racing again, the King fitted her out anew and from then until she was withdrawn after the 1935 season, she achieved almost legendary status at Cowes even after the larger J-class boats began to overshadow her. Following George V's death early in 1936 and under the terms of his will, Britannia was stripped of her salvagable gear and scuttled off the Isle of Wight in July the same year. Having competed in a total of 569 races, she had won an astonishing 231 first prizes as well as another 129 awards for second and third place in her long career, a record unsurpassed in the annals of yachting.